When Tony Gaziano and Dean Girling established their Northampton workshop in 2006, the English shoemaking establishment received them with something between skepticism and amusement. Northampton had been producing shoes for three centuries, and the notion that two relatively young craftsmen could improve upon the methods of Church’s, John Lobb, and Edward Green struck many in the trade as presumptuous. Twenty years later, the consensus has shifted entirely. Gaziano & Girling is now widely regarded as the finest production-level shoemaker on earth, and their bespoke program — the Bespoke by Appointment service operated from their Mayfair showroom — is among the most coveted commissions available to serious footwear collectors.
The Background: Why G&G Is Different
English shoemaking in the ready-to-wear segment had stagnated by the early 2000s. The great heritage houses had been acquired by conglomerates or had retreated from design innovation in favor of protecting their existing customer base. Last shapes — the wooden forms around which shoes are constructed — had not been meaningfully updated in decades. Gaziano and Girling identified this as an opportunity.
Their initial innovation was last design. The G&G house lasts are narrower in the waist, with a more pronounced chisel or rounded toe and a higher, more sculptural instep than anything their predecessors had offered. This gave G&G shoes an elegance of profile visible from across a room — a quality that photographs exceptionally well and that resonates strongly with the current generation of luxury menswear buyers. The lasts are not universally flattering on all foot types, but for the feet they suit, they produce an almost architectural result.
The construction methods are classical Goodyear welt throughout the ready-to-wear range and hand-welted for bespoke — the highest standard available in shoemaking. Every shoe is hand-finished with a distinctive shell over the heel counter and a hand-applied wax finish to the leather upper that requires hours of work per pair.
Ready-to-Wear as the Foundation
Understanding G&G bespoke requires understanding the ready-to-wear range first, because the ready-to-wear provides the entry point for most clients who eventually commission bespoke. The MTO (made-to-order) program allows customers to specify their choice of last, leather, sole, and lining from a range of options, with the finished shoe produced in Northampton and delivered in approximately six months.
The MTO program is priced from approximately £1,600 to £2,800 depending on leather and specification. Shoes in shell cordovan — the dense, non-porous leather from the equine hide that is among the most durable and visually distinctive materials available — command premium pricing and a longer wait due to the limited supply of quality cordovan from the Horween tannery in Chicago, the primary remaining producer of the material.
For clients who want the G&G aesthetic and construction without the wait or price of full bespoke, the MTO program is the answer. For those who require individual last fitting or who want access to the full range of leather and construction options available only in the bespoke program, the appointment-based bespoke service is the appropriate route.
The Bespoke Process: First Appointment
The bespoke appointment takes place at the G&G showroom on Savile Row or, for international clients, during trunk shows in New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and other major cities where G&G conducts regular client visits. The session with a senior fitter — typically Tony Gaziano himself for initial bespoke clients — runs approximately ninety minutes.
The foot measurement process in bespoke shoemaking is more detailed than most clients anticipate. Both feet are measured in multiple dimensions: overall length, ball width, waist circumference, instep height, heel width, and toe configuration. Importantly, virtually everyone has measurably different left and right feet, and the bespoke last accounts for both. A plaster cast or 3D scan of the foot may be taken, depending on the complexity of the foot’s shape. Significant features — bunions, hammer toes, unusual arch height — are noted and incorporated into the last modification.
The leather and sole selection follows the measurement process. G&G works with the finest tanneries globally: Annonay in France for box calf, Horween in Chicago for shell cordovan, and specialist producers in England and Italy for suede, museum calf, and exotic materials. The sole selection — leather, double leather, rubber, or combination — is guided by intended use, and the welt style, edge finish, and outsole staining are all specified to the client’s preference.
The Last Making and First Trial Shoe
Following the initial appointment, the workshop produces a bespoke last in wood — a process that takes approximately six to eight weeks. This last is the physical representation of the foot measurements, and it will be used for all future commissions, becoming in effect a permanent record of the client’s foot held by the house.
A trial shoe, or fit shoe, is then constructed on the bespoke last in an inexpensive leather for fitting purposes. This shoe is examined at the second appointment, typically three to four months after the initial session. The fitter assesses the trial shoe on both feet, identifying any areas of pressure, gap, or asymmetry, and the last is adjusted accordingly. For most clients with uncomplicated feet, a single trial fitting is sufficient. Clients with unusual foot architecture may require two.
Construction: What Hand-Welted Means
The term “hand-welted” is used loosely by some manufacturers; at G&G it refers specifically to the traditional method in which the welt — the strip of leather that connects the upper to the sole — is sewn to the upper by hand using an awl and thread in the classical English shoemaking technique. This process, which takes a skilled craftsman several hours, produces a construction that is superior in several respects to the Goodyear welt process used in production shoemaking.
Hand-welted shoes can be re-soled more times before the upper is compromised, they conform more precisely to the shape of the last, and the absence of the insole rib required by Goodyear construction means the shoe sits closer to the foot and breaks in more responsively. For a shoe that may be worn for twenty or thirty years and resoled multiple times, this matters.
The finishing of G&G bespoke shoes involves hand burnishing with bone tools to achieve depth of color, the application of antique shading by hand to create the characteristic G&G patina effect on toe and heel, and final hand polishing. Approximately 200 individual operations are involved in making a single pair.
The Cost and the Wait
Bespoke shoes from Gaziano & Girling are priced from approximately £5,000 to £8,000 for a standard pair in box calf or calf suede, rising to £12,000 or more for exotic materials including shell cordovan, alligator, or hand-painted patina finishes. The elapsed time from initial appointment to delivery is typically nine to twelve months for a first commission; subsequent commissions on the existing last are faster, running four to six months.
The price premium over G&G’s made-to-order program reflects not simply the bespoke last but the additional hand labor in construction, the greater leather selection available, and the complete individualization of every aspect of the shoe. For clients who have invested in a bespoke wardrobe across multiple categories, the logic of completing it with bespoke footwear is compelling.
Why This Matters
The experience of wearing a shoe made on a last designed for your specific foot is not subtle. The difference from even the finest ready-to-wear is apparent from the first wear — there is no break-in period in the conventional sense, because the shoe begins in a shape that accommodates rather than deforms your foot. Over time, the shoe molds further, and a well-maintained pair of G&G bespoke shoes becomes more comfortable and more characterful with each year of wear.
For those who spend significant time in formal footwear, the functional case is unambiguous. For those approaching this as a cultural and aesthetic experience, the G&G bespoke program represents English craft at its absolute apex — a tradition refined over centuries and practiced today at a level that its originators would recognize as genuine.
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